Italy Part 18

On the menu for our Labor Day feast: 

Mussels in tomato and herb sauce (p. 133)

Gnocci romana (p. 114)

Salad and saison

First off, let's have toast to September! May this month bring you joy shared between old friends and new, may it provide cool air for deep sleeping with cracked windows, and may your stomachs and spirits be filled with great food and cheer!  The 23rd is the official start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Two Jokers Double Wit, Boulevard Brewing Co., Smokestack Series.
The second of three special beer bombers that my brother
has gifted Joe and me. The first was opened on our first camping
adventure, and this bottle was opened to commence the start of fall. 

How do you say "gnocci"? I realized I really had no idea while I was trying to tell a grocery store employee why I needed to find semolina flour.  He just raised his eyebrows at "goo-NA-ch-ee" and suggested we look at the whole sale section. After doing a bit of digging, I can now conclude why that man was giving me weird looks. I was pronouncing the name totally wrong! The pronunciation is more like, "knEE-ah-kee." This sound bite is helpful:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/knowhow/glossary/gnocchi/glossary.mp3

Essentials of Gnocci romana, an Italian dumpling.
Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, milk, nutmeg, semolina flour,
as well as butter and cream which are added last.

This dumpling required a special flour: semolina.
Semolina is purified, ground wheat bran and is preferred over
other wheat flours because it has a higher gluten protein content
that allows for more elasticity and shape for pasta and dumplings. 

Slowly heating milk, nutmeg, and salt n' pep a boil.

Semolina flour was sprinkled into the hot milk, one first-full at a time,
to prevent lumps from forming. The mixture became very thick in a hurry and
this thick porridge cooked for about 10 minutes, to soften the flour fibers.
Then egg and parmesan were stirred into the pot. 

The gnocci batter needed to stiffen under refrigeration for one hour.
This step required a "swiss roll tin" lined with baking paper.
I substituted with my broiling pan!

After sliding the dumpling batter into the refrigerator, I started preparing the tomato sauce for the mussels. This sauce was simple, requiring a mixture of oil, garlic, crushed tomatoes, chili flakes and a pinch of sugar to simmer until reduced. This tomato sauce was set aside for later and I prepped the ingredients to cook the mussels in, which simply consisted of sauteed onions and garlic.

I was unclear by the gnocci recipe for how to turn the stiffened flat pan of dumpling batter into a round roll. If it wasn't for the cookbook's picture displaying gorgeous, little dumpling circles for a finished product, I would have cut small squares from the stiffened pan instead of attempting this...

Now that the batter was stiff, it came off of the baking paper without sticking.
I attempted to "roll" the batter into one big log by starting at one end
and slowly rotating it over onto itself, using pressure, while keeping the
parchment paper out. It reminded me of rolling up a thick yoga mat.
Then I rinsed some floss (to get the mint coating off) and sliced the log
into nice 1-1.5 inch wide pieces.

The pieces were arranged on a greases baking dish
(I used the broiler pan, once again, since it was already out)
and smothered them in melted butter, mozzarella, parmesan, cream!

Now that the gnocci were happily baking in the oven (and smelling delicious), it was time to focus my attention back to the mussels.  For some reason, I had always looked at shelled creatures as some extremely difficult delicacy to prepare correctly. However, much to my surprise, they are so easy! From my experience, the rules for preparing shelled clams and mussels are this:

1. Once you bring a bag home, keep them over ice in the refrigerator until you want to cook them.

2. Wash their shells using a stiff brush and cool water, removing any tough fibers ("beards")

3. Discard any broken shells or opened shells.

4. Cook for about 3 minutes in a bit of simmering broth or sauteed veggies until they pop open.

5. Discard any shells that do not open after 5 minutes of cooking.

My shells were cleaned and ready for the hot
pot of sauteed onions and garlic.

As the mussels popped open, I used tongs to remove them from
the heat. Once they had all opened, it was time to drain the
mussel-infused onions, reserving the juices for the tomato sauce.
I kept the onions to be used as a salad topping.

The gnocci buzzer sounded just as I finished tossing
the mussels with the rich tomato sauce.

With the oven still warm after taking out the sizzling dumplings, I sliced up some focaccia to place into the warmed oven while Joe helped set the table. This meal was nowhere near the usual Bar-B-Que fixing that I usually enjoy on Labor Days, however, it did make for one special treat! 

Joe and I pushed our chairs up next to each other so that we could both
access the bowl of mussels. If you want a romantic dinner at home with your
honey, I suggest making this dish.  Just ask me for the recipe!